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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. season — in sport
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. root — of a word
  6. face — part of the head
  7. net — in sport
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. root — the cause
  10. net — for catching
  11. sharp — clever
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. net — after costs
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. root — of a plant
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. face — to point toward
  19. stem — to come from
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. date — the fruit
  22. capital — money
  23. season — of the year
  24. face — to confront

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com